When people congratulate me about my books and heap praise on me for my accomplishments, I always give a polite thank you, but in my heart, I know better. God writes all the books, gives all the talks, paints all the pictures, designs all the buildings and builds all the bridges. All things are done by this universal mind. I am merely an instrument of this greater consciousness to which I am always attached. When I let go of my vanity and mentally refuse to take the credit, everything seems to flow. I tune into something that I cannot see or touch, and my fingers move with pen in hand to create symbols on a pad of paper. On stage, my vocal chords move and words come out, but I know not where they come from. I often say how time seems to have no meaning at all when I am truly inspired (in-spirit) and writing or speaking. Everything simply flows and I know that I have tapped into what were previously dormant forces. With God there is no time.

Just as the blood is circulated throughout my body by an invisible force that keeps my heart beating and pumping, so too does that same invisible force pump words through to my pen. I am in awe of it. I trust it. I know it will never abandon me. I know I can never separate myself from it. I and it are eternal, and my puny little ego takes no credit for any of my accomplishments. It is faith that I bring to any doubt that my ego might trigger, and when I do, time stands still and it is all perfect.

Although this may sound unusual in this context, your breath is a phenomenal tool for establishing faith. When you encounter doubt in your life, become conscious of your breath. Take a few moments to inhale very deeply and hold onto that breath. Then notice as you exhale and become aware of this awesome thing we call breathing. A few moments of deep breath awareness returns me to my faith in the invisible force that is always at work to keep life flowing. In and out, like a heartbeat, like the waves of the ocean in front of my home, ceaselessly moving in and out. Use the awareness of your breath as a connector to God, particularly when you feel yourself disconnected by the illusion of a problem you are experiencing in your mind. It is calming, soothing, and nourishing to be aware of your breathing. It is a way I find useful to sow faith in the presence of doubt or problems.

A perfect example of faith at work is the placebo effect. You take a sugar pill believing that it contains the magical elixir to heal your tumor, relieve your arthritis, or lower your blood pressure, and it is your faith, not the sugar pill that causes your body to create the harmony you desire. This same kind of faith in God’s energy can and will bring peace and harmony to your life if you decide to make it your inner conviction.

William Blake once wrote this clever couplet, which summarizes the powerful request of Saint Francis to sow faith where there is doubt: “If the sun and moon should ever doubt/ they would immediately go out.”

The sun and moon, like each and every one of God’s creations, survive and shine on the faith, and faith alone, that we can never go out.